Portable lamp and reel



Aug. 13, 1957. w, LAMBERT 2,802,932

PORTABLE LAMP AND REEL Filed July 2, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet. l

I Mah/on M. L amber! INVENTOR.

M. w. LA MBERT PORTABLE LAMP AND REEL Aug. 13, 1957 r,u......,.,,,,mmmflum,"mum"m.

INVENTOR.

Q BY

United States Patent 2,802,932 PORTABLE LAMP L Mahlon Wt Lambert,Luding'ton, Mi h, Application July 2, 1954, Serial N 440,9 i A 2 Claims.(Cl. 240-73 t This invention comprises novel and useful improvements ina portable lamp and reel and more specifically pertains to a troublelight which is adapted to be clamped upon the wrist of a person in orderthat he may conveniently dispose the light in any desired position, thelight being connected to a resilient retracting reel mounted in astationary installation.

such as a vertical wall 18 or the like, by means of screws 20. Extendinglaterally from the plate 16 adjacent the top edge thereof are a pair ofparallel perpendicularly extending plates 22 constituting arms which, ifdesired, may be integral with the plate. Rotatably journaled betweenthese arms is a reel or spool 24 upon which is adapted to be wound andunwound the electric cable 14.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a portable electriclight, useful either indoors or outdoors, which may be mounted in aconvenient, out-of-the-way but protected location, and which may beeasily positioned wherever desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a portable lamp inaccordance with the preceding object which shall be especially adaptedto be clamped upon the wrist of a person to facilitate its movement intootherwise inaccessible places.

A further object of the invention is to provide a portable trouble lightwhich is especially adapted for use around garages and the like whichmay be readily positioned to illuminate any desired object or place, andwhich will free the hands of the user for other purposes.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, parts being broken away, of anembodiment of a portable extension light in accordance with thisinvention, parts being broken away to show the interior construction ofthe same;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the portablelight is clamped to the frist of a user;

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantiallyupon the plane indicated by the section line 3--3 of Figure 6 andshowing the rotary distributor or commutator mounted upon the reel forestablishing an electric circuit with the portable light;

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantiallyupon the plane indicated by the section line 44 of Figure 6 andillustrates the resilient winding means for the reel;

Figure 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken substantiallyupon the plane indicated by the section line 55 of Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view through the assembly of Figures1 and 5.

The portable trouble light in accordance with this invention consists ofa mounting or supporting unit including a housing or casing indicatedgenerally by the numeral 10, a trouble light indicated by the numeral12, and an electric cable 14 connected to the light and forming part ofan electric circuit as set forth hereinafter.

Referring particularly to Figures 1, 5 and 6 it will be seen that thecasing 10 consists of a flat plate or base 16 which is adapted to besecured to a supporting surface A spiral spring 26, as shown in Figure6, has one of its opposite ends secured to one of the arms 22 as at 28,and has itsother end secured to the arbor 30 of the reel as at 32, 'asshown in Figure 4. This spring yieldingly urges the reel 'to rotate in adirection which will Wind the cable 14 thereon.

Upon the other plate or disk indicated by the numeral 34 of the reelthere are mounted a pair of concentric electrically conductive rings 36and 38, it being observed that the' disk 34 is of dielectric material orhas a dielectric member interposed between itself and the rings. The endof the cable has its two conductors connected to these rings as shown inFigure 6. g

A dielectric plate 40 is mounted in a recess in one of the arms 22 andis provided with spring contacts 42 and 44 which 'respectively registerat all times with the rings 36 and 38. An electric cable is connected tothese spring contacts and is provided with a plug 48 whereby the samemay be connected to any suitable source of electric current.

As so far described, it will be apparent that a continuous electriccircuit is maintained from the cable 46 to the light 12 despite rotationof the reel.

A bridge 51 is mounted upon the outer ends of the arms 22, and supportsa horizontal top plate 52 which rests upon the top surface of the armsand extends beyond the sides and front of the latter to overhang thesame having at its forward end a hood portion 54 with a downturned end56. The bridge is secured to the ends of the arms as by screws 58 and isprovided with an aperture or opening 60 and a resilient spiral coil orspring 62 constituting a resilient support is secured in any suitablemanner to the bridge 56 and in alignment with the opening 60, projectinglaterally outwardly from the supporting assembly. The cable 14 isslidably passed through the opening 60 in the spiral support 62 and maybe withdrawn from the reel in order to position the light at a remotelocation, and will be automatically rewound upon the reel when the lightis released by the user.

A weather-proof casing surrounds the supporting framework and houses thereel. This casing consists of a vertical wall 64 which is positionedbetween the base 16 and the vertical supporting surface 18, beingretained therebetween by the above-mentioned screws 20. The member 64extends upwardly and is preferably integrally joined to the roof or top52.

A sloping or inclined bottom pan or closure plate 68 is welded orotherwise suitably attached to the bottom edge of the base 16, and tothe lower inclined edges of the arm 22 and extends upwardly and'alongthe same and is provided with an upturned flange which is secured to thelower portion of the outside surface of the bridge 51 as by the lowerset of screws 58. Thus, the reel and its electrical connection is housedin a completely weathertight manner and disposed in an unobtrusiveout-of-theway location. As will be noted a portion of the bottom wall 68and of the arm 22 are broken away in Figure 1 to show the internalconstructions.

The lamp 12 consists of a reflector casing 70 of suitable shape in whichis mounted an electric light bulb 72 connected to the cable in aconventional manner. The casing 70 is provided with a fastener wherebythe same may be detachably secured to the wrist of a person. Thisfastener may be of various types, but conveniently consists of aresilient metallic band 74 or a band of any other flexible or elasticmaterial which is adapted to resiliently engage the wrist of the user asshown in Figure 2. By this means, the user may direct the light from theportable extension lamp to the place desired and still have his handsfree for other purposes.

An especially important feature of this invention is the completeenclosure of the reel and of the rotary electric connector assembly in aweatherproof housing of the supporting assembly; and the protection hoodwhich completely shields the light and its resilient support from therain when the device is not in use thereby especially adapting thedevice for outdoor installation and use.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A portable extension light comprising a weatherproof casing adaptedfor mounting upon a supporting surface and receiving a reel thereintogether with an electric lamp connected to an electric cable wound uponsaid reel and adapted for attachment to the wrist of a person, saidcasing including vertical side and end walls defining a chambertherebetween, said reel being mounted in said chamber, means forconnecting said reel to a source of current, said end wall having anopening therein for passage of said electric cable therethrough, aresilient spiral spring having one end received in said opening andprojecting horizontally from the end wall and surrounding said cable andproviding a resilient support therefrom, said casing including a topwall covering the top edges of said side and end walls and overlying thelatter and said resilient support whereby to shelter said lamp when thecable is wound upon said reel.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said reel has its sides disposedin close parallel relation to said side walls, said connecting meansincluding relatively stationary and movable contact members carried byone of said side walls and by a side of said reel respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent

